I hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day, especially if you’re part of the 55% of Americans that celebrate the day.

If you’re in a relationship, I hope you got chocolates, flowers, or whatever makes you happy. And, if you’re not seeing anyone, I hope you treated yourself to something nice.

Thank you for checking out my Random Friday Thoughts.

“HOUSE OF CARDS”

We just finished binge-watching the first four seasons of “House of Cards”.

I absolutely love Robin Wright as First Lady Claire Underwood and Kevin Spacey as President Frank Underwood.

Season five debuts on Netflix May 30, 2017.

If you haven’t watched the show and you love politics, you have to start!

Check out this amazing scene from season three. Claire has to tell the world that an American citizen jailed in Russia for being openly gay and protesting the country’s anti-LGBT laws committed suicide.

To Russia and the rest of the world that still think this way (Americans, #45, and his cabinet members, some of you could use some educating, too), wake up, open your eyes and your heart, and let’s start more of a dialogue!

A NEGRO TRAVEL GUIDE?

It’s sad to think this is reality, but it’s definitely not hard to believe in our country with all the hatred — then and now.

Its purpose was to keep black motorists safe and to let them know what places refused to serve non-whites, provide information on “sundown towns”, predominately or all-white towns that practiced segregation, and much more.

After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there must have been enough security (or hope) in the United States that it ceased publication in 1966.

Sadly, with the open hatred of people that aren’t white in the “post-January 20, 2017th world”, it might need to come back.

And, while we’re at it, maybe a rainbow version is needed, too, to keep the LGBT community safe from the haters, too!

PICK HIT FOR VALENTINE’S DAY

Last fall, as Michael Buble was ready to launch his latest album, “Nobody But Me”, he and his wife, model Luisana Lopilato, dropped out of the public eye when his 3-year-old son, Noah, was diagnosed with cancer.

Two weeks ago, Buble released this encouraging update:

Last Friday, the video to “I Believe in You” was released and if you don’t smile or shed a tear after seeing this video, hopefully you got a heart for Valentine’s Day because you need one. 🙂

Oh, if that didn’t encourage you to watch it, Derek Hough of “Dancing With The Stars” fame is absolutely drop dead gorgeous (and shirtless) in the video!!!!!!

REMEMBERING EMMANUELLE RIVA

With so many celebrity deaths already this year, the passing of French actress Emmanuelle Riva was pretty much overlooked in America. She died of cancer January 27, 2017, in Paris.

In 2012, she became the oldest woman to earn an Academy Award Best Actress nomination for her heartbreaking turn in “Amour”. (She was 85 at the time.)

“Amour” was my #6 movie of 2013.

“REMNANTS”

Whether country music stations play her new songs or not, LeAnn Rimes’ albums usually debut in the Top Ten on the Country Albums charts.

Her last Top Ten album on the Billboard 200, which includes all genres, was 2007’s “Family”.

LeAnn Rimes is back with her latest album, “Remnants” and it’s flawless.

I definitely love LeAnn’s country music. My favorites in that genre are “Probably Wouldn’t Be This Way”, “Something’s Gotta Give”, “Some People”,”One Way Ticket (Because I Can)”, and “Big Deal”.

I met LeAnn in Salisbury, Maryland, in the fall of 2005. She was a sweetheart.

LeAnn has released many pop-oriented albums in her career and “Twisted Angel” (2002) is still one of my all-time favorites of hers.

Her new album, “Remnants” is the latest pop effort. It was released last fall in the U.K. and just came out last week here in the U.S.

The highest charting single from the new album is “Long Live Love”. The Dave Aude remix is currently #2 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart!

Twelve of the thirteen songs on “Remnants” are absolutely perfect!

My favorites are the soulful “Do It Wrong”, the religious-tinted “I Couldn’t Do That To Me”, “Love Is Love Is Love” (which LeAnn sings about not wanting to start an argument, just a conversation about tyrants, politics, religion, and love), the torch song-sounding “Outrageous Love”, and “The Story”.

Just because radio is missing out this amazing voice and music doesn’t mean you have to!

GRADE: A

“SING IT NOW: SONGS OF FAITH & HOPE”

“Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope” is Reba McEntire’s 29th studio album, but it’s her first Christian album.

It debuted at #1 on this week’s Billboard County Albums chart and at the top of the Christian Albums chart, too. On the Billboard 200 Albums chart, which includes all music, it debuted all the way up at #4.

It sold 52,000 copies in its first week!

I’ve always wanted Reba to do a full gospel album after she recorded “Sky Full of Angels” for her 2003 “Room To Breathe” album.

The deluxe version of the new album features 22 songs.

“Back To God” is the first single.

On the gospel classics, Reba’s voice and musicianship are simple and stunning!

There are many songs that, if you didn’t know more about this album, you’d think they were just more Reba country songs.

But, as Reba once joked around the 1995 release of “Starting Over” album, whatever genre of music she sings becomes country when the words come out of her mouth.

The song I love the most on the album is “Swing Low Sweet Chariot”. The album version is four minutes of pure bliss!

“Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope” is almost perfect. I think when an artist stretches an album out to 22 songs, there are ultimately a couple that wouldn’t have made the cut on a shorter album. But, I’ll take those songs here just to have more new Reba music.

With the divisive election last November and the circus of the past few weeks, this album does soothe the soul.

I was raised in a Pentecostal church that preached all about fire, brimstone, and damnation and I still find solace in gospel music!

Reba, if you’re listening, how about a bonafide dance album next? Your voice and EDM could be amazing!

GRADE: A-

THAT’S IT

With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!

I have to include the trailer because it looked so promising! The movie only grossed $14,567 in theaters. Look again, that’s 14-thousand dollars and not millions!

Here’s what I wrote about the movie back in July: “It was painful to watch Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner in “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters”. If you love special effects, it was a great movie. However, the story line was lacking and the violence was over the top. Also, this is definitely not a movie for kids!”

The weekend is almost here, but it’s going to be a short one for me since I work Sunday evening. However, I’m going to make the most of it. We’re having a yard sale with the rest of the neighborhood today and tomorrow and we’ve already decided that the money we make will go toward Las Vegas in the spring of 2014!

Saturday night, we’re going to the Riverfront Pops concert at LeClaire Park in Davenport, Iowa, featuring the music of Michael Jackson and then fireworks! As you can see from this picture, it was the music of ABBA last year!

Have a great weekend and make the most of it. I hope you enjoy my random thoughts this week. If so, let me know. If not, let me know why.

SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS IN ARIZONA

No, I’m not talking about Governor Jan Brewer this time, but that, too, is a sad state of affairs!

This is about Daniel Hernandez, Jr., the intern who helped save then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ life by applying first-aid assistance in the January 2011 deadly shooting rampage near Tucson, Arizona, where six people died and twenty others were hurt.

Later that year, Hernandez was elected to the Sunnyside Unified School District, which covers southern Tucson and adjacent areas in Pima County. Now, he and three other board members (out of five) are facing a recall campaign.

However, for Hernandez, it’s more personal and it’s a smear campaign.

Seriously, he’s being attacked because he’s gay! And, that means he’s not a “real man”??? People in that school district need to wake up and smell the orange juice. Did the country not learn anything from Anita Bryant and John Briggs’ anti-gay discrimination from the 1970s?

To the Illinois House, it’s time for you to move forward and make marriage equality a reality in the “Land of Lincoln”.

By doing so, Illinois would join 13 other states, the District of Columbia, seven counties in New Mexico (next week), and five Native American tribes in the United States that offer same-sex marriage.

Here in Illinois, the Senate approved a marriage equality bill in early 2013, but it stalled in the House this past May before it adjourned. Proponents say they were just a few votes shy.

Politicians no longer can use the excuse that the general public does not support marriage equality. More people than ever are saying “yes” to equality and in last November’s election, voters in Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota said “yes” to marriage equality. And, this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court did away with parts of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Supporters are ready this time. The American Civil Liberties Union has hired former state Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady, who supports marriage equality, to lobby Republicans.

And, “Illinois Unites for Marriage” put together that amazing video from the Bud Billiken Parade in Chicago to reach out to the city’s black community, which has people like Reverend James Meeks condemning marriage equality. Meeks says, “Men should not be marrying men, and women should not be marrying women. God does not support homosexuality, and neither do I.”

Illinois, it’s time to make marriage available for all in the state.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

MIDWESTERN DROUGHT INTENSIFIES

I really wish I could make the clouds cry over the Quad Cities without being a bully. It’s now been 32 days since we saw measurable rain in the Quad Cities. This is now the 5th longest period without rainfall, officially, at the Quad City International Airport in Moline, Illinois.

That photo, showing how dry it is, was taken by my friend, Cindy Farmer, near Kewanee, Illinois, about 30 minutes from the Quad Cities.

It’s hard to believe that we had more than 20″ of rain back in April, May, and June, and now we’re seeing a “moderate” to “severe” drought.

Let’s all do a rain dance or pretend that we’re Lizzie Cooper and call the Rainman.

Tanya Tucker, who I idolized as a kid, hit #1 in 1975 with that song, “Lizzie and the Rainman”. It was her eighth Top 40 country hit and her fourth to hit #1. It also peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100, her first, and only, crossover hit.

CONGRATULATIONS LANCE & MICHAEL

Former ‘N Sync band member, Lance Bass, is now engaged.

The 34-year-old proposed to his boyfriend, Michael Turchin, in New Orleans.

Lance says, “New Orleans is my favorite city in the world, it really is. I’ve been coming here my whole life. I was born just across the border here (in Laurel, Mississippi). …I got down on one knee and I proposed, right in front of Jackson Square, my favorite place. I was pretty nervous.”

Of course, Michael said, “yes”.

The two have been seeing each other since December 2011.

Congratulations Lance and Michael!

Lance’s former band, ‘N Sync, had many hits. “Tearin’ Up My Heart” is from 1997 and it was their second release, a Top Ten radio airplay hit.

TWO MOVIES TO CHECK OUT

Last weekend, in our quest not to binge watch season three of “The Walking Dead”, we rented three movie. All three were enjoyable, but I highly recommend two of them.

“Amour” took home the Academy Award this year for Best Foreign Language Film and was up for three other Oscars including Best Actress (Emmanuelle Riva), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director.

It tells the story of an aging married couple that has to deal with the onset of failing health and memory and not wanting to resort to life in a nursing home or a hospice. Both Riva and her on-screen husband, Jean-Louis Trintignant won Cesar Awards, the French equivalent to the American Oscar, for their performances.

GRADE: A

“Olympus Has Fallen”

This terrorists take over the White House movie came out a couple of months before Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx’s very, very similar movie, “White House Down”. While I enjoyed Channing in his white tank top and his movie, “Olympus” was far more superior in its story line and acting.

Since it was directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”), you know it’s a very violent movie. But, it’s also very entertaining and definitely worth seeing.

GRADE: B+

The third movie we watched was “Mud” starring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon (in a much smaller role).

The movie is about love and redemption. It also focuses on the bond between McConaughey’s on-the run criminal character and 14-year-old Ellis, an Arkansas boy helping “Mud” get back with the woman he loves.

GRADE: B-

While enjoyable in “Mud”, I’m more impressed with McConaughey’s recent performances in “The Paperboy”, “Killer Joe”, and “Magic Mike”. However, it’s his upcoming role in “Dallas Buyers Club” that has people really take him serious as an actor and there’s pre-season buzz that he could get his first Oscar nomination!

In the movie, out November 1, 2013, McConaughey plays Ron Woodroof, a homophobic, straight man from Texas who is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and is told that he has 30 days to live. He begins smuggling alternative medication into the U.S. from Mexico. For the role, McConaughey reportedly lost 40 pounds.

26-year-old Scottish singer Emeli Sande is releasing her second single, “My Kind Of Love”, here in America next week.

This is the follow-up to “Next To Me”, which was a Top 20 radio airplay song here in the States. It also hit #1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart and reached the Top Ten on the Adult Contemporary and R&B/Hip-Hop charts.

YOU HAVE TO GET THIS ALBUM!

“Our Version of Events” has already produced three #1 songs in the U.K. and spent seven weeks at the top of the albums charts there. It was also the best-selling album of 2012 in the U.K.

Sadly, Emeli and the album have not made it big in the United States and that’s a shame. While the first single, “Next To You” was a modest radio hit here, it topped the charts in Ireland and Scotland and reached the Top 5 in Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, and the U.K.

If you love Adele and Beyonce, you’ll love this album. It’s one of my favorites that I bought this year.

The album kicks off with the fun, upbeat “Heaven” followed by the new single, “My Kind of Love”, which has a catchy hook and sounds like a hit that Beyonce wishes she had recorded.

If you like more upbeat songs, you’ll love “Daddy” featuring Naughty Boy and “Next To Me”.

But, my favorite song on the album is “Clown”, which reached the Top Ten in a few countries across Europe.

“Our Version of Events” is an album you need to add to your collection! It spent 63 consecutive weeks in the Top Ten on the U.K. charts breaking the record established by the Beatles almost 50 years ago when “Please Please Me” stayed in the Top Ten for 62 straight weeks.

GRADE: B+

STOP FIGHTING, YOU’RE BOTH PRETTY

The “Boy” is in a feud with the boys of One Direction and their fans, which is scarier.

Recently, at the BRIT Awards, Boy George asked the boy band for an autograph for his niece and Harry obliged, but Liam Payne didn’t. Boy George, always the one to speak his mind, got One Direction’s fans riled up. He said, “”Top marks to Harry Styles for stopping for a picture with my niece and Bollox’s to Liam and the disrespectful wanker of a minder!”

But, Liam didn’t take it lying down.

He fired back in a Tweet, “@BoyGeorge now now boy lets not tell porkies. Firstly thanks for getting my name wrong three times secondly then asking me where is liam?…awkward. Then when you finally got it right saying you wanted Niall instead. If you would have asked me for a picture i would have stopped bro i just did what you said and pointed niall out for you so u just keep wearing ur strange hats and enjoy yourself my little Georgie pie… It’s still not cool you just look weird.”

Boy told the “Daily Star” that the band is not as straight as their fans think, “The odds are one of One Direction must be gay. I think everyone is a bit bisexual deep down, so the odds are they are probably all bisexual. They’re rock stars so it’s what you’d expect, isn’t it? I’d be disappointed if they weren’t. Tattoos don’t make you butch. Look at me.”

And, then the One Direction fans started in on Boy George. He claims, “One tweeted me saying: ‘My mum says you’re a horrible old has-been.’ I tweeted back saying: ‘Your mum’s probably an old, fat ugly b***h.'”

George adds, “I was having such a laugh, fighting with One Dir­ection’s fans all night. I did say some vile things, I had too much sugar. But I really enjoyed it.”

Nothing like a little Twitter Twitting!

One Direction hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 this summer with “Best Song Ever” and it’s currently of the 20 most played songs on pop radio.

PEEPS’ ’80s FRIDAY FLASHBACK

From 1982 through 1986, Boy George and Culture Club scored ten Top 40 hits in America.

Their first six singles reached the Top Ten. Of those, only “Karma Chameleon” reached #1 (in 1984). Their introduction in America was “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”, which spent three weeks at #2 in the spring of 1983.

Nothing makes me feel better than listening to 1980s music and boy bands and I featured two today! Enjoy your weekend and stay cool!